Skirt and waist buckle.



PATENTED AUGQZO, 1907.

8. W. PHELPS. SKIRT AND WAIST BUCKLE. APPLICATION FILED mm: 20. 1906.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIDNEY W. PHELPS, OF SOUTHBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO JOHN A. HALL, OF SOUTHBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SKIRT AND WAIST BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 20, 1907.

Application filed June 20,1906. Serial No. 322,505.

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, SIDNEY W. PHELPS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Southbridge, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Skirt and Waist Buckle, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a buckle which is capable of many uses but is especially adapted for fastening a skirt at the top and at the same time, fastening a waist at the bottom.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide means for efficiently accomplishing both of the above mentioned results without the use of sharp projectionsto enter the cloth and to provide for efficiently locking the parts in closed position and at the same time provide a place for ornamentation on the front of the buckle. Also to so construct the device that it can be placed on a belt and used as a buckle either in the front or back.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1. is a perspective view showing how the buckle appears in use. Fig. 2. is a transverse sectional view of the buckle as employed to fasten a skirt and waist. Fig. 3. is a perspective view of the rear leaf of the buckle. Fig. 4. is a perspective view of the central leaf, and Fig. 5. is a perspective view of the front leaf, parts broken away.

I have shown the buckle as comprising three leaves, a, b and 0. Each leaf is provided with corrugations a b and 0. These corrugations may be of any desired form and extend in any direction but I have shown them as V or W-shaped and extending across the leaves, horizontally. Each leaf is provided with one or more curved bends a b and c to receive a rod whereby the leaves may be hinged together or to overlap each other to perform the same function. I

It will be seen when the leaves are assembled as shown in Fig. 2, the central one is pivoted to the inner one at the bottom while the outer one is pivoted to the central one at the top, consequently, a waist can be inserted from above between the two rear leaves while the top of the skirt can be inserted from below between the two front leaves.

In order to provide means for locking the parts in closed position, I have provided the rear and front leaves, respectively, with projecting tongues a and 0 while both at the top and bottom of the central leaf I have provided V-shaped proiections b for receiving the tongues in a manner illustrated in Fig. 2.

It will be noticed that the central leaf is provided with a surface 1) extending out of the plane of the leaf and meeting the V-shaped portion b at a point some! what raised from the plane of the leaf. Consequently, as a rotary motion is given to any one of the leaves with respect to another, the tongue, as for instance the tongue a rides up the surface b with some yielding resistance and as soon as it slips over the point between this surface on the V 12 it will settle into the V, holding the two leaves in locked position.

As the parts are preferably made of sheet metal or other resilient material, the leaves can be folded back by the ordinary simple operation of turning them on their pivots and at the same time the locking means will hold them firmly in position when they are applied in the manner indicated in Fig. 2.

On the front of the third leaf 0 I have shown a plate d. This plate may be plain, corrugated, or embossed and it may be ornamented in any desired way, one way being indicated in Fig. 1.

It will, of course, be understood that the front leaf is preferably firmly fixed to the third leaf and it may be integral therewith if desired.

While I have illustrated and described a particular form in which my invention may be applied, I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction, as many modifications may be made therein within the scope of the claims by any person skilled in the art; furthermore, the device can be used for many other purposes than that specified; that is, it can be used for holding one or more pieces of fabric or other material and therefore, I do not wish to limit the invention to its use as a skirt and waist buckle.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. In a buckle, the combination of a plate, two plates located on opposite sides of the first named plate, the first plate being pivotally connected at opposite edges thereof with the other plates, and resilient means connected with said plates for holding them closed against each other, said resilient means comprising inclined portions on two opposite edges of the center plate, V-shaped depressions at the ends of the inclined portions, and a tongue projecting from each of the other plates, and adapted to ride up said inclined portion and snap into the V-shaped depression when the plates are closed together.

2. In a buckle, the combination of two plates pivoted together at one edge of each plate, said plates having resilient means for holding the plates closed against each other, said resilient means comprising an inclined portion of one plate located near the edge thereof, a V-shaped part at the end of the inclined portion, and a tongue projecting from the other plate and adapted to ride up said inclined portion and rest in the V-shaped part when the plates are closed together.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SIDNEY W. PHELPS.

Witnesses:

W. P. GENDEEAN, A. ApLAnn. 

